If you head up to the store today to purchase a Windows 8 device with a touchscreen, such as a notebook or tablet, you will likely pay at least $400. The high price tag is one of the reasons why Windows 8 hasn't performed as well on the market as Microsoft hoped. However, Intel CEO Paul Otellini says that prices of these devices are set to get much cheaper.

Otellini says that touch screen devices running Windows 8 and Intel's new Bay Trail processors will see their prices cut in half. Devices running these chips are expected to sink to price points that will allow for more penetration into the lower end tablet market with products available at around $200.

Bay Trail is a complete redesign of Intel's Atom microarchitecture. Intel expects the new processors to bring Atom closer to the performance of mainstream Intel processors.

"Bay Trail is going to be a great product in that segment of the market and enable stunning performance relative to what the competition can bring," said Stacy Smith, Intel chief financial officer.

Intel says that its new chip will allow device manufacturers to design tablets and notebooks as thin as 8 mm, or 0.3-inches. Bay Trail is also said to be the most powerful Atom processor so far and promises all day battery life and weeks on standby.

$200? Let's see, retail markup is usually 100%, so the cost to Best Buy is $100 for a $200 item. Which means that after paying Microsoft $150 for the Windows 8 license Intel is going to lose $50/unit just to gain market share over ARM? I don't think so.

are you kidding? Retail mark-up is nowhere near 100%. Especially for highly competitive electronics like this. Most stores sell computers very close to, or even for a loss. they hope to regain money selling you the accidental damage insurance. I worked at office depot, and we would often lose 20-30$ on laptops that were selling for $600.

Laptops and tablets, especially when newer, are sold at MOST a 25% margin.